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Up in Arms

Anna Maria Nabirye and Annie Saunders

A multimedia project exploring friendship, anti-racism and feminism

Anna Maria Nabirye and Annie Saunders, a black woman and a white woman, stand facing a large projection of a black and white image ofDorothy Pitman Hughes and Gloria Steinem, taken by Dan Wynn
Anna Maria Nabirye and Annie Saunders, Up in Arms. Live cinema performance still, Dortmund International Women's Film Festival, 2019

Artists Anna Maria Nabirye and Annie Saunders remove the boundaries between process and artwork as they bring together social practice, visual art and performance for their Up in Arms project, produced by Artsadmin and commissioned by the De La Warr Pavilion.

During the lead up to the exhibition opening, local residents of Hastings and Rother can join free social practice sessions facilitated by Nabirye and Saunders. Participants are invited, two at a time, to re-create and re-embody the iconic 1971 portrait of activists and friends Dorothy Pitman-Hughes and Gloria Steinem. Through this process, the artists create a safe space for two friends to have a conversation about friendship, racism and feminism.

The resulting documentation and recordings will be integrated into an expansive installation in the De La Warr Pavilion’s First floor gallery, comprising film, photography and archival material. Footage will also be used in a live performance presented alongside the exhibition at De La Warr Pavilion in spring 2023.

‘Honesty and humour pervade the process – a journey that the two artists are undertaking in catalysing conversations between friends. The chatter of every day experience is punctuated by sudden, profound utterances which strike a chord and are memorable… It feels healthy, of the moment and needed.’

Artlyst

Up In Arms has been developed through residencies, performances and live events at no.w.here, The Showroom and Artsadmin, London; New Art Exchange, Nottingham; MANA Contemporary, Jersey City, USA; The International Women’s Film Festival, Dortmund; The Association of Austrian Women Artists, Vienna; and online for the WOW (Women of the World) Global 24 Festival and Hungry Eyes Festival, Prague.

Date and time

4 February – 21 May 2023

Please note
This is now a past event.

Venue

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
East Sussex
TN40 1DP
UK
De La Warr Pavilion

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